Linda Rief: "What's Right with Writing"

All students, regardless of their level of academic performance, need affirmation of how or why the quality of their work is received. I do understand that receiving a paper returned with a graded mark and no comments as to why or other leaves one with the feeling if the effort fulfilled the criteria requirement; all students, I believe, desire to do their best or seeking ways to improve. Rief is making a statement outloud that teachers need to understand may result with zero positive gain.
If we, as teachers, pursue a better understanding of what it means to teach meaningful purposeful writing, then we are expected to be both, teacher and researcher. Rief is correct by questioning, "How do I shape those beliefs into sound practices in the classroom?" Students invisibly demand our acceptance; our understanding, our thoughts have an immense impact on how students may decide to continue to interact in the academic environment. If students are to demonstrate understanding of a concept through writing, then educators must respect their efforts.
Rief states, "Writing is thinking" which is a way of communicating everything about ourself, and what we know. With that said, "unique" is what Rief is meaning. Writers are unique as their writing. However, in order for anyone to improve as a writer, we must read. Writers need to know what areas of their writing needs improvement, without the necessary feedback from the teacher, improvement is limited.
Ending with a punch, Rief recommends teachers to comment with feedback on what the writer did well and to highlight the needed tools to strengthen the writer's writing. In the quotable quotes, Rief includes a comment by Donald Graves, "If you provide frequent occasions for writing, then the students start to think about writing when they are not doing it. I call it a state of constant composition." What do you think?